The Heart of a Career Part 1
by Omniyus
Summary: Taking on a new vision of The Hunger Games. That's my idea. Glimmer and Marvel seem to approve in this stunning fanfiction. Note: This is my first fanfiction, hope you like it!


Part 1:

The Tributes

Chapter 1

I woke up from a rustling across from me. The jewel-encrusted curtain on my window moved. I rolled my eyes and pushed the silk comforter off of me.  
Slowly walking to the curtain, I grabbed a crystal dagger from my headstand. The curtain swayed once more.  
I opened the curtain, ready to strike the foolish person who thought they could break into my room.  
It was Marvel. He smiled at the fierce look on my face. I lowered the blade and glowered at him.  
"Marvel, you idiot, you could've gotten us hurt; you scared me half to death."  
His smile widened. "More like half to murder." He mimicked my face and the position I was in, over exaggerating dramatically.  
"It's not funny, I would've stabbed you." I snarled.  
"You would've tried to stab me." His grin faltered a bit, but he resumes his famous smile. "Ornate trained me more." He pushed me aside and climbed in.  
"So, you want to do it tonight?" I asked. He looked at me sternly.  
"I already did it. Fairly easy, too." He laughed when he saw my face. "What?"  
"You know I wanted to help. Are you sure no one saw you?" I asked suddenly worried.  
"Relax, no one was there, I told you, it was easy." He turned to feel my curtains. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, we still have one more thing to do tomorrow. Well, Ornate does, anyway. We can still back out. Your family doesn't need the money that much."  
"Oh, they want it alright. I can see their glances to me, their whispers. I'm almost eighteen, Marvel, they spent a lot of money, and they'll get that and more once I win."  
"If you win. We're not the only ones trained out there." He stopped touching the curtains.  
"If I don't win, then you will, right?" He didn't answer. "Marvel?" He embraced me.  
"I'll try. Now go on to bed. We have a reaping tomorrow, remember?" He walked towards the window.  
"I was in bed before you came."  
"Happy Hunger Games Glimmer."  
"Happy Hunger Games, Marvel."  
"And may the odds be ever in your favor." He said with a wink and left. I closed the window and laid back into the bed.  
If the second part of the plan worked, then the odds would be in my favor.  
"Do your job, Ornate."

There were no lights on outside the hover ship. It had landed to have its only fuel stop until it reaches the Capitol. From the detailed sketch that took years to make from weaseling information out of drunken peacekeepers, the supercomputer that makes the names of the tributes and sorts them into the bowl in the laboratory.  
The hatch on the side of the craft opened. A stout peacekeeper walked onto the ramp leading down to the ground.  
Ornate took his chance.

"Hey, can you point me to the reaping area?" A tall man that seemingly appeared from the shadows asked.  
"The reaping isn't until tomorrow, sir." The peacekeeper looked at the man suspiciously.  
"I want to get there early to get a good seat. I have a big feeling that this Hunger Games is going to be good."  
"The reaping is going to be at the same place as last year." The suspicion in the peacekeeper's voice rose.  
"Are you sure? My old mind is messing with me; I could've sworn it was somewhere else this year. I was walking my normal route to the reaping and it was blocked off…" The man started mumbling to himself more than anyone else.  
The peacekeeper walked over and steered the man into the ship. "I'll get you a map; there must be one in here somewhere…" The ramp lifted and closed.

Ornate followed the peacekeeper through a narrow hallway.  
"Wait here, I'll be right back." He entered a room to the right.  
Ornate pulled out a small dagger. The peacekeeper walked back out, head buried in a holographic imager of District 1.  
"The reaping is in the same place as last time. At least that's what it shows on here…" He looked up at Ornate, which was the last thing he saw.  
He slumped to the floor. Ornate grabbed the holographic plate. Quickly switching through the maps, he finally reached the detailed map of the hovercraft.  
The laboratory was straight ahead.  
"You better win this, Glimmer." Ornate muttered as he walked through the lab doors.

Chapter 2

The sound of banging at my door aroused me from a horrible nightmare. I rolled to my side and pushed the button to un-mute the microphone on the door. "Yeah?"  
"It's already five; you must get up now so we can get you into your dress!" A voice boomed through the room.  
"Yes, mother." I turned off the microphone before she could say anything else.

After my shower, breakfast, and a plethora of yelling, comments, and whispers from my mother, I was eventually dragged into the dressing room.  
The dress was silver, inlayed with gold, "accenting the fine lines of my body" or something like that. The details were amazing: Neon flowers wrapped around a teardrop of rain and a waterfall which ended in hummingbirds.  
There was one thing that was a problem, though. The dress was about two sizes too small for me, even when I tried to squeeze in there.  
"Mother, how will I fit into this?" I asked incredulously.  
"We'll make you fit." She said. A snap of her fingers and five different servants tugged at the dress and me alike, eventually fitting the dress on me.  
"There, now you look pretty." She smiled at her handiwork. "Do you want me to go with you?" She seemed anxious.  
"No. mother, I'm meeting up with Marvel."  
"Marvel, isn't he your 'boyfriend?'" She smiled her fake smile.  
"No, mother."  
"Fiancés?"  
"I'm leaving now, mother."  
"Am I invited to the wedding?"  
"Goodbye, mother."  
"Oh, you're no fun."  
The door slid closed behind me. It was hard to walk in these high heels; I was elevated about four inched because of them.  
I lived five blocks away from the Courtyard, the place where only the most important ceremonies are held, while Marvel lived three blocks away.  
I half stumbled, half walked to the end of the block, where Marvel and I were supposed to meet. The street ended in a small cul-de-sac, forming into a sidewalk that leads up to another street next to the Courtyard.  
"Marvel?" I whispered. Nothing happened. "Marvel?"  
"It might make it suspicious if we walk together to the Courtyard." Marvel appeared from behind an oak tree.  
"You're late, and I don't care. Did Ornate do it?"  
"He did it, alright." He smirked. I winced.  
"How bad?"  
"One peacekeeper dead, two injured, cameras were 'out' at that time. No one suspects he tampered with the names, they just think he took a holographic imager, which he did, I suppose."  
"Is he at the reaping?" I asked worryingly.  
"Of course he is, would make it suspicious if he wasn't." He noticed the look on my face and walked over to me. "What's bothering you?"  
"Nothing." I said quickly, perhaps too quickly.  
"I know you. Something's wrong." He lifted my chin until our eyes met. "You can tell me anything, Glimmer, you know that."  
"I'm scared, Marvel." My body shivered.  
"We all are, but there's no way to escape now." He slid a strand of hair out of my eyes.  
"I had a nightmare," I looked into his sea-blue eyes and lost myself, "and the thing is, Marvel, it felt so real. I buried my head in his chest, muting the entire world from my ears.  
I barely heard Marvel say. "What was the nightmare about?"  
"I died in the Hunger Games. It was a horrible death, and then I was alive, but not really, you know?" He nodded, so I continued. "I was wild, feral, and everything about me was different, except my eyes. It was horrible."  
We stood together in silence. He finally nudged me gently. "The reaping is going to start soon." He flashed his pearly white smile. "Let's get our game faces on." I smiled weakly, and started walking to the Courtyard.  
A sudden thought appeared in my head. "What if somebody volunteers after we're picked?"  
"The only people who would even think about volunteering are the other Careers. Ornate asked them not to."  
We walked in silence until we reached the steps leading to the landing where the tributes are herded into. A metal arch marked the beginning of the stairs. A registrar stood to the right of the arch. He motioned us forward.  
"Name?"  
"Marvel Staferfield and Glimmer Hadinill." Marvel; stated.  
"Give me your hands." We obliged. He pinpricked us and placed our bleeding fingers on a sheet of paper.  
"Proceed."  
Marvel looked at me. "Together?"  
"Together." I said.

"Welcome to the 74th annual Hunger Games reaping!" Mayor Eldest said, her blonde curls bouncing on her head as she did a dramatic bow. "I'm your fabulous mayor and host. We begin with a nod towards the Capitol with this very fine motion picture film." She flourished her hands towards an empty screen, and the film started.  
I looked towards the eighteen-year-old boys' section. Marvel glanced at me and mimicked gagging, pointing at the screen. I almost giggled but hid it just in time with a couple of well placed coughs as the film ended.  
Mayor Eldest stood back up and clapped her hands. The parents' section started clapping, too. Most of the kids were bored and wanted to go home, for they knew they wouldn't get picked, and if they did, somebody would just volunteer.  
The Careers, people called them. Bloodthirsty creatures that didn't have a care in the world except to kill peers in the arena. I thought they were like that too, until my parents entered me in a program. Then my life changed. My goals elevated and I had to reach for—  
I was so pre-occupied I didn't even notice Mayor Eldest call out Lionel King, the escort from the Capitol. I didn't even notice him give us his usual speech about how he was "honored to be here" and "honored to pick out the tributes for District 1" and all the other things he usually says. I didn't hear him say the usual "Ladies first." I most certainly did not here him pick out my name and say it twice. I guessed the look on my face was priceless because as I was being pushed out of the crowd of the other eighteen-year-old girl, Marvel gave me a small thumbs-up.  
My parents and neighbors were all cheering for me when I walked up the stage, almost falling in the ridiculously high heels. Lionel gives me a huge smile and walks over to the boys' bowl. I see Marvel stiffen up and make his most innocent face I ever saw in my peripheral vision.  
Lionel takes a moment to choose one, opens it, and says slowly. "Derek Lapeed."

Chapter 3

The first emotion I felt was shock, then betrayal. I pinpointed Marvel out in the crowd, and he was smiling. It took me a few moments to actually realize what he was doing: Smiling. /my anger grew to a boiling point, but I had to control it or I could get pulled off the stage. Marvel had known all along that he wasn't going to be called. I looked for Ornate and found him fairly easy; he was the only one looking down at his feet. At this my anger grew even more, I almost stomped my feet but, realizing the heel may break, I stopped myself.  
I was freaking out until I heard a very clear voice. "I volunteer." Unable to be sure, I looked to the boys' section. Sure enough, Marvel was walking coolly down the walkway. He patted Derek's back, who was about halfway in between the twelve-year-old boys' section and the stage. He was shaking and almost jumped out of his skin when he felt Marvel's hand. He whispered something in the boy's ear, and Derek ran off to the back of the crowd.  
He walked casually up to the stage and stood about five feet away from me. He shook Lionel's hand and we briefly met eye contact. I forced all my emotions into my eyes as we turned to each other and shook hands. He almost smiled. Lionel walked up to the microphone. "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!"  
The crowd was still cheering when the doors to the courthouse closed behind us. I was led to a hallway to my extreme left that I didn't even know existed, and Marvel to the right.  
The peacekeepers guided me into a fancy room that overlooked a garden that wrapped around an extravagant fountain. I walked over to the sliding door. It was slightly see-through, so I could see a few peacekeepers outside my door.  
I sighed and sat down on the small bed. The doo slid open and I heard a peacekeeper say "Three minutes." And the door closed. I turned to see Ornate. He sighed and sat down opposite me on the bed.  
"You got what you wanted, Glimmer."  
I said nothing.  
"Are you happy?"  
I said nothing.  
He sighed again. "Look, I don't have much time and I wanted to say I'm sorry for whatever inconvenience you have. I did my best."  
"Who's Derek?"  
"So that's what you're mad about?"  
"Yes."  
Another sigh escaped his mouth. "I don't know, you'll have to ask Marvel about that. I just put in the names he wrote down."  
A peacekeeper opened the door and his voice cut the tension settling around us. "Time's up."  
Ornate stood. "I suppose your parents have met with you?"  
"No. They didn't." The peacekeeper ushered Ornate forward, but he stilled him with a hand.  
"I guess I'm your only visitor, then." He turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "Oh, and Glimmer, may the odds be ever in your favor."  
This was a jest between all of the Careers. Ornate taught us that the odds were always in our favor. I smiled when the door closed behind me. "Happy Hunger Games Ornate."

There was a peacekeeper in front of me, to the left of me, behind me, and to the right of me. Still, the cameras could catch glimpses of me as we walked out of the courthouse. Reporters were everywhere, calling out questions that I didn't answer. My face was as void of emotions as the plexi-glass covering the helmets of the peacekeepers around me.  
The walk to the tribute train was a slow one, for there were reporters from the Capitol everywhere, so I had time to think. Time to think about the Capitol, about me being a Career.  
I basically grew up around Careers. Reca, my neighbor, was a Career. She died when I was five in the 61st annual Hunger Games. I didn't understand what the Hunger Games was, or who a Career was. All my mother told me was that she "—Died doing what she loved." I cried for days. My mother asked me about a week after Reca died, if I wanted to be like her. I said yes.  
So she enrolled me in Ornate's classes. To this day, I still knew what I meant. I wanted to be a loving person like Reca, not a savage creature.

I boarded the train. The peacekeepers stayed at the entrance. The train was immaculate, even to my standards. Marvel was sitting in a chair, his back facing me. I was about to start screaming at him when Lionel entered the train. "Well, I say this reaping went pretty well, don't you?" We both turned to him as he closed the entrance. He pushed a button to a speaker on the wall. "Everyone's in." The train lurched forward. "I do expect your mentor to be in the other cart. Shall we go meet him?"  
"In a little bit. Thank you, Lionel." Marvel said before I could speak up.  
"Very well." Lionel bowed and exited the door across the room. I turned to Marvel, but he silenced me.  
"I know what you're about to say, and don't" His intention was clear, but I said it anyway.  
"Why did you do that?"  
He sighed. "Glimmer, I wanted to tell you –"  
"Tell me what? That you didn't even have your name in there? That a twelve year old's name was in there? That you betrayed me?" My anger was spilling out of me, and he must have sensed it, because he sighed.  
"I did it for a reason. People would get suspicious, Glimmer. Especially in the Capitol. I made it so I looked like a Career. Do you know who that was who was selected?" I shook my head. "He was my neighbor's son. I used to babysit him. If anything, he was a brother to me." He paused. "Nobody will suspect a thing now, Glimmer. It was flawless; executed perfectly."  
"All you cared about was the execution?" A voice sounded in my head, until I finally realized it was my voice. "What about that boy's feelings?" My intent was clear. My voice was low. "Being picked when you're twelve is a horrible thing. You're never the same."  
"I didn't think about that." He mumbled.  
"Of course you didn't think about that, Marvel! You should've just done it the way we planned out—." A knock on the door startled both Marvel and me alike.  
"Am I interrupting something?" A tall, dark man leaned in the doorway facing me. My cheeks flared hot, and I could see Marvel, even with all of his training, blushed a little also. "Apparently so." He walked over to sit in a chair between us. "You two know each other?" He pointed to me then Marvel, amused. "What? Cat got your tongue?"  
I cleared my throat. "And you're our mentor, I'm guessing?" He nodded.  
"Who else would I be? Of course I'm your mentor. Lionel is in the food cart." He looked off in that direction. "Would you like some food? I would hate to interrupt you spirited discussion and not offer you anything."  
"How about advice?" It was Marvel. He looked calm, but his eyes told me that he and our mentor knew each other in some way, and it wasn't a good one. "If you want to barge in here like you own the place, then let's start our training now."  
"There's time enough for that. I know you're Careers, both of you. Your set shoulders, the look of determination. I bet you can't wait until you step foot into the arena."  
My hands were cold. Even our mentor was stereotypical. "How long have you been mentoring?" His grey eyes met mine.  
"Thirty-two years." Silence fell over the room, but our mentor still stared at me. "Ever since I won and started mentoring. Most of whom I mentored was Careers. Monsters who couldn't think of even getting hurt, much less dying. They killed for fun." He stilled. No one said anything for awhile. Still he stared at me, but I held my gaze. Marvel fidgeted in his seat.  
"Look, are we going—"  
"Hush, boy." It came out of our mentor's mouth. He frowned, but still he looked at me.  
Finally, I could stand it no longer. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"  
"There's something…different…in your eyes. You aren't a Career, are you?"  
"I am."  
He continued staring at me. "Who was your teacher?"  
"Ornate."  
His body stiffened. "I thought so. Well, I'm going to try to fix what he did to you. Are you a trainee of Ornate, also?" Marvel nodded. "This complicates things quite a bit. So you do know each other. It'll take me a while to fix the things he did." He sighed.  
"He didn't do anything wrong." I snarled. He laughed.  
"Of course he didn't. Let's go get something to eat before we reach the Capitol." The discussion was clearly finished, but my temper wasn't. Marvel was still sitting when the door closed. With our mentor gone, I turned to him.  
"Who is he?" His face was masked, but I could tell he was still angry, also.  
"Ornate's younger brother, I should've known." He covered his eyes. His mask failed, and I realized how much pressure he's been in over the past few years. There were bags under his eyes, faint, but still there. Small wrinkles were around his mouth and forehead. He looked thirty, not eighteen. My anger melted at the sight of him. I gently grabbed his arm and pulled him to a standing position. He stumbled, but soon regained his composure. His mask eventually formed back onto his face.  
"I hear they have excellent food, even on the tribute train." He said.  
I laughed hollowly. "Better be good, because I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to be pretty rough.  
"At least we'll be going through it together." Marvel stated promptly. He held out his hand and I took it.  
"Hopefully." I whispered.  
"What?"  
"Oh, nothing."  
He shrugged, and we walked, hand in hand, to the bar car.

Chapter 4

"Glad to see you." Our mentor was hovering over one of the trays, buttering a roll. "Since I didn't get a chance to introduce myself before, I will now. My name's Phire. I'm your mentor." He continued buttering the roll.  
I sat down in a chair next to Lionel. He smiled warmly. "Do you like the décor? I find it fascinating. Never the same." He tapped my hand matter-of-factly. "If you think this train is fancy, just wait until you see the Capitol itself." He turned away and walked up to the food.  
Marvel sat down in his place and handed me a roll. "Thanks." I muttered. He nodded. The roll was sweet, covered in melting butter and a sweetened with powdered sugar and cinnamon. I would like to make this once I get home, I thought, and then I reminded myself, if I get home. "Who makes this food?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.  
Lionel looks up at me from adorning his plate with various pieces of meat. "Well, I guess I don't know. I never really thought about it. I suppose it would be Avoxes." He chuckled at my expression. "You've never heard of an Avox, sweetie?"  
"No." I felt my cheeks burn. Lionel confirmed it when he cupped my face.  
"Don't' be embarrassed. Avoxes are meant to be a secret. They're horrible people who committed a serious crime against the Capitol. So they caused their own tongues to be ripped out to silence their wrong doings. Now they work for the Capitol, doing thinks like cooking." He smiled at me. "Why do you think this train is so long? We're not the only ones here."  
A silence fell upon us. So I felt like a two-year-old, not knowing something that is a very common thing upon adults. Lionel went back to piling meat on a plate. Phire looked at me and cleared his throat. "These are some mighty fine rolls, don't you think so, Lionel?" Lionel nodded, and began explaining how he "makes rolls just like that." He did that so I didn't look like a fool in front of them. I appreciated that, even though I didn't say anything.  
Marvel nudged me. "Don't worry; I didn't know anything about that." He smiled sheepishly. "I thought robots made it."  
"Close enough." I smiled. That reassured him. "So when are we going to start training?" I spoke up.  
Phire was chewing noisily. "Well, you two are Careers. Head for the Cornucopia. You're not the only Careers out there, so get a weapon. That leads me to a question. What weapons are most proficient at?"  
"I like a spear, and Glimmer's pretty much good with everything."  
"Look for those weapons at the Cornucopia then, they'll be there—"  
"A bow." Everyone looked at me. "I like the way a bow feels."  
"It suits you." Phire stated. Coming from his mouth, I didn't believe it. He continued talking before I could argue, though. "Make sure to show them what you can do whenever you can. Otherwise they won't put those weapons you want in there."  
The train went dark, and the chandelier on the ceiling flickered to life. "We're going through a mountain. The Capitol isn't far away." Lionel said, still stuffing his face with chicken legs.  
As soon as we cleared the mountain, muted sounds buffeted the train. Cheers. "They're cheering for us." I muttered.  
"Of course they are; you're the first tributes to arrive." Lionel said. The train slowed to a steady gait into the Capitol.  
"Before we get out, I'll tell you what's going to happen when we're here. I'm going to get sponsors in my spare time. You two will be led to your stylists to get ready for the opening ceremonies. It will all go very fast, so be prepared." He stood up and stuffed another roll in his mouth.  
Marvel stood and helped me up. Lionel walked over to us, excitement in his eyes. "It's an honor for you two to enjoy the experience and the magnificence of this place. It truly is amazing. "He laughed.  
"For what?" I asked, completely oblivious.  
"Well the Capitol, of course."  
The doors to the train opened.

End of Part 1


End file.
